1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to cart constructions and particularly to carts having a rigid frame and a repositionable shelf for moving relatively large items such as baggage or cargo and the like.
2. Background Information
Carts of various types for baggage handling on airport flight lines are well known. Such carts, groups of which are generally towed by tractors, frequently include two fixed shelves for holding two layers of luggage and the like, with each shelf usually accessible from both sides of the bag cart.
Often, however, oversize luggage or cargo too large for storage on a shelf will require a separate piece of equipment to be transported. When this occurs, the needed piece of equipment is often not close at hand, and much time may be needed to find and retrieve it from a storage area after hitching it to a tractor. Some bag carts may be equipped with a removable upper shelf, but the removal operation is frequently slow and cumbersome, and may require special tools and more than one person to perform.
In some instances a cargo cart is preferred, rather than a bag cart, that permits access to the cart from only one side, with no middle shelf. Yet those who need both styles of cart have needed to keep both types on hand since no single cart has been able to meet both sets of needs. When bag carts are being used on an airport flight line for unloading luggage from an aircraft cargo hold, there may be no way of knowing what type of cart will be needed until the baggage is actually coming out of the plane. In such instances, where there is no time to search for and retrieve the appropriate bag cart, there has been nothing available to allow a single worker to quickly and easily, without the need for special tools, convert a cart having a shelf to one having no shelf and a right or left side wall, or vice versa.
The stowable shelf bag cart of the present invention overcomes the difficulties described above and affords other features and advantages previously not available.